In Prescription for Survival, physician Bernard Lown tells the extraordinary story of how a group of Soviet and American doctors came together to stop nuclear proliferation and ended up winning the Nobel Peace Prize and influencing the course of history. In 1981, Lown and a Soviet colleague, Evgeni Chazov, launched a USA-USSR medical antinuclear movement: International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW). Over the next four years Lown and Chazov recruited more than 150,000 doctors worldwide, met with numerous world leaders, and, after a surprising amount of adventure, intrigue and conflict, in 1985 accepted the Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of IPPNW. More than a memoir, this book sheds new light on what really drove and still drives the nuclear arms race, the critical importance of citizen involvement in social change efforts, and what Lown terms the ongoing epidemic of militarism, which a glance to recent headlines shows is still very much with us.
Author(s): Bernard Lown M.D.
Year: 2008
Language: English
Pages: 436
Contents......Page 10
Foreword......Page 12
Prologue. Back to the Future......Page 16
1 The Final Epidemic......Page 20
2 Early Russian Connections......Page 32
3 The Sudden Cardiac Death Task Force: US-Soviet Collaboration......Page 47
4 The Friendship Strategy: Building Trust to Sustain Life......Page 62
5 “For Your Six-Month-Old Grandson”......Page 74
6 “You Can’t Trust the Russians”: A Fragile Alliance in Geneva......Page 94
7 “Doctors of the World, Unite!”......Page 111
8 “More Sweat, Less Blood”......Page 131
9 Cambridge, England: The Military Brass Came Marching In......Page 149
10 We Dominate Soviet TV for One Hour......Page 165
11 The Catholic Church Defends My Left Flank......Page 183
12 “Pay Attention to Gorbachev!” “But Who Is He?”......Page 197
13 A Nuclear Game of Chicken: Reagan Leads the Cold War......Page 211
14 Message for Tomorrow: The Third Congress, Amsterdam......Page 236
15 Brinkmanship: KAL Flight 007 Shot Down......Page 249
16 Andropov’s Message in a Time of Crisis......Page 265
17 The Year without a Summer: Nuclear Winter......Page 277
18 “No Arsonist Will Be Invited!”......Page 285
19 Endless Daylight in Helsinki......Page 298
20 Mothers Fight Back......Page 308
21 “No Peace without Justice”......Page 325
22 Gorbachev Challenges the Nuclear Status Quo......Page 336
23 The Medical Prescription: No Trust Required......Page 350
24 The Nobel Prize: My Mother Expected It......Page 364
25 A Space Traveler’s Puzzle......Page 383
26 Cooperation, Not Confrontation: A Long Conversation with Gorbachev......Page 395
Epilogue. From Communism to Terrorism......Page 404
Appendix. IPPNW Time Line......Page 414
Acknowledgments......Page 420
Notes......Page 424
B......Page 448
C......Page 449
G......Page 450
I......Page 451
L......Page 452
M......Page 453
P......Page 454
S......Page 455
V......Page 456
Z......Page 457
About the Author......Page 458
